Page 30 of Innocent Salvation

“Me either,” he muttered to himself.

To get to the fire exit, he had to go through Snow’s bedroom, which was tidy and clean, evidence of her only in the scent that hung in the air. More shots coming from downstairs had his anxiety rising, and the urge to turn back and make sure she was okay, to put himself between her and the damn bullets meant for him, was strong.

Lowering Fleur to the bed, he went to the window and leaned out to open it wide, cool night air rushing inside. More shots coming from downstairs had him feeling torn and impotent; two things he never felt.

He wasn’t a man to run from danger and especially not one to leave a woman alone with armed gunmen to face it alone. But as he looked at Fleur, who was quickly realising it wasn’t a game and saw the fear on her innocent face, he knew he didn’t have a choice. Either way, he’d hate himself for what he did next.

“Come here, munchkin.” Lifting the child, he stepped out onto the metal stairs and looked down to make sure nobody was lying in wait for them. With the large patio area clear, he began to slowly climb down.

A commotion below him had him looking down and he saw a man pointing a gun at him and Fleur. Frozen, he knew he was a sitting duck and had no weapon of his own to fire back, at least not on him. His own secret gun was locked away and as useful as a chocolate teapot right now.

As he said a silent prayer to a God he didn’t believe in, he closed his eyes and turned Fleur away in the hope that he could shield her long enough that Snow or someone could get to her. Surely someone had called the police already, gunfire was hardly commonplace in this area.

As he ducked his head and rounded his shoulders to try and make himself a smaller target, he heard the discharge of a weapon and waited for the agony to spread through his body, but only heard the thud of something below him.

Turning, he saw the man who’d been hugging Snow outside the café, a gun in his hand, standing over the man who’d been about to kill him. He looked up, his features a cold mask of focus he recognised as the same as his own.

“Move before you fucking get shot.”

With no choice but to trust him, Sebastian rushed the rest of the way down the stairs.

“Where’s Snow?”

“Inside. There are more of them. I don’t know how many.”

“There’s a car out front. Get inside it and wait there.”

With a cool look of disdain he understood as being for leaving Snow, the mystery man ran toward the side door.

Sebastian had no choice but to do as he was told. He was the underling here and the child in his arms was his priority. Seeing the black BMW X5 with blacked-out windows, he made his way toward it and saw Mr McCullum, the man from his new security team in the driver’s seat. He jumped out to get the door and ushered them inside, closing it behind them. He turned in his seat and beamed at Fleur.

“Hey, beautiful, do you want to go on an adventure?”

Fleur cuddled closer to him, and Sebastian wrapped his arm around her tightly, his focus out of the window looking at his home which was shrouded in darkness. Not knowing what was happening was torture. He had so many questions he needed answering, not least, who the hell were these people and why were they helping him and how was Snow involved? Because an itch at the back of his neck told him she was no nanny.

The seconds ticked on, and he kept his eyes on the house willing the woman he’d been considering asking to be his wife to come out. He glanced at McCullum in the rear-view mirror and watched him shake his head once and glance at Fleur.

Sebastian understood his desire not to talk in front of Fleur and felt the same energy radiating off him as he had the other blond guy.

“Uncy Seb, I don’t like this game.”

Sebastian kissed his niece’s head. “I know, munchkin.”

The man in the front turned in his seat and smiled at Fleur who smiled back, shy for the first time in her life. “Are you a Paw Patrol or a Teen Titans fan?”

Sebastian was watching Fleur as she lit up as this clearly dangerous man, who he knew had a gun on his lap as his other hand held the steering wheel, spoke her language.

“I like Ricky Zoom.”

He smacked his hand to his forehead and rolled his eyes making her laugh. “Of course you do. A smart girl like you likes to work out puzzles and save people. Well, think of this as a grown-up Ricky Zoom. We have a mystery and you’re gonna help solve it.”

“What about Snow?”

Sebastian felt his gut clench, worry making bile rise in his throat. If something happened to her while she was protecting him and Fleur, he’d never forgive himself.

“Snow will be fine. She’s a secret superhero. Shh, don’t tell her I told you.”

Fleur’s eyes went wide. “She is?”